Did You Know Tuesdays

Did you know it was on this date, February 23, in 1945, that the iconic photograph of the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman raising the flag on Mount Suribachi in Japan was taken? It was the fifth day after the start of the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. The picture, taken by photographer Lewis R Lowery, was actually of the second, larger flag that was raised. The five Marines were Franklin Sousley, Harlon Block, Michael Strank, Rene Gagnon and Ira Hayes. The Navy Corpsman (HM) was John Bradley and I single him out because I was once a Navy Corpsman. An interview with HM Bradley regarding that day during the War can be found here. (I'm not sure when the interview was conducted, but it's pretty interesting.)

photo from freeinfosociety.com

A big hearty THANK YOU to all of the troops wherever you are.